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10/24/2012

Rep. Moran's son resigns after covert video release

The son of Northern Virginia Rep. Jim Moran (D) has resigned his position as field director of his father's re-election after a covert video of him was released by the conservative group "Project Veritas".

In the video, Patrick Moran is seen discussing ways around Virginia's new voter ID laws in an effort for one supporter of his father and democratic ticket voting 100 times on behalf of others that did not plan to go to the polls.

At first, Moran appears reluctant, but then goes along with the concept and offers tips to make it happen.

Here is the video posted by James O'Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas:

The video posted around just before 1pm today and quickly caught the attention of conservatives, including talk show host Rush Limbaugh who talked about it on his program.

It wasn't just conservatives who were alarmed by the video, liberal blogger Ben Tribbett, also called the video "totally unacceptable" and even said it was time for Rep. Moran to retire.

Patrick Moran released a one sentence statement late Wednesday afternoon announcing his resignation effective immediately.

Rep. Moran himself has not responded to a request for comment on the issue, but the campaign released a statement confirming Patrick's resignation.

"Patrick is well liked and was a well-respected member of the campaign team," The statement which was not attributed to a specific individual reads. "This incident, however, was clearly an error in judgment. The campaign has accepted Patrick’s resignation, effective immediately.

Patrick is part of a powerful political family in Northern Virginia. His father has been in Congress since 1991 and was once the Mayor of Alexandria. His Uncle, Brian Moran is the current chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia and was once the House Democratic Minority leader in the General Assembly. He was also a candidate for Governor.

Brian Moran called the incident a mistake.

"Patrick Moran is my nephew and a good kid who, in this instance, made a mistake," said Brian Moran in a prepared statement. "He has taken responsibility and has stepped down from the Moran campaign. The Democratic Party of Virginia is an organization that stands for free and open participation in our elections and we oppose even the appearance of any effort to undermine those values. "

The timing is not good for Rep. Moran. He was part of a trio of democratic officials who just asked the Federal Attorney General's office to take a closer look at the Harrisonburg voter registration controversy. Now instead of being able to publicly push for a probe into GOP contractor, he will be forced to answer questions about his son's questionable activity.

Here's my report for NBC12:

UPDATE: Patrick Moran releases a statement to POLITICO where he claims that he never took the reporter seriously.

"In reference to the "O'Keefe" video, at no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior. At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him.

"In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not.

"In regards to my position on the campaign, I have stepped down because I do not want to be a distraction during this year's critical election."

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Hey Patrick Chan!!! My name is Monica & I am a HUGE FAN! You are so TALENTED & AMAZING at what you do! I wish you all the best success at the Olympics! You ipinsre me & I hope that more people are ipinsred by your talents. Thank you for everyting! I believe that Vancouver 2010 is your time to SHINE! Keep up the AWESOME work!!! I'M ALWAYS CHEERING FOR YOU MR.CHAN!!!!!!!!!!PS: I go to c9cole Georges-P.-Vanier in Hamilton,Ontario (Have you heared of it?). I am chinese too (ASIAN FOR LIFE! =D) !!!!!!!!BON SUCCc8S AUX JEUX OLYMPIQUES!!!!!!